Tunisia is of great strategic importance for its location in the middle of the Mediterranean basin, and then its control of navigation in this sea, as well as its proximity to the Spanish, French and Italian shores. In the sixteenth century AD, Tunisia was still under the control of the Spaniards.

The book “The Ottoman Turks in North Africa” reveals the chaos that pervaded the Arab African states, which were called “Ocak of The Maghreb”. It was revealed that this was due to the military units and the policy of the Ottoman Empire, which was deliberately managing the areas under its control with the same approach, which was to appoint the pashas and support them with the Janissaries, provided that the appointment period was variable, which made the imbalance exist all the time.

The book confirms that this policy was certainly a cause for the tyranny of the pashas and their attempt to collect money, knowing that they would not stay in the position for long. Tunisia was occupied since 1569 AD, and only Jalta remained under the control of the Spaniards. In 1574 AD, Tunisia was fully subjected to the Ottoman administration. Here, we shed light on the description of the situation in that period by historians, where the people lived a miserable period described by its contemporaries as “the Black period” for four centuries of Ottoman occupation. As a result of that period, poverty, ignorance and disease descended upon the country and the people until the situation deteriorated completely and all social classes led revolutions and organized currents of opposition. Historians recorded the atrocities of the Turks as an accusation document that exposes their black colonial history, according to what historical sources say about the Ottoman era in Tunisia and Tripoli in the West. They were separated independently, and a general prince was appointed for each, who was linked directly to Istanbul.

On the other hand, Tunisians recorded many reactions against the Ottoman Empire, including the rejection of the Sublime Porte’s demands to support them during their war with the Russians. When the Ottoman-Russian war broke out in 1877, the Ottoman Empire asked Tunisia to contribute money, equipment and men to the war. Despite the many letters sent by the ruler of Tunisia, Muhammad Al-Sadiq Bey, to excuse Tunisia from participating in that war due to the difficult conditions in the country, the documents state that the Ottoman Empire insisted on its request that Tunisia should send what was requested, especially since the dangers facing the state were great and serious. There were arrangements to send some men, but the news arrived that the war had stopped and Tunisian soldiers were not sent. The situation was difficult, especially the turbulent psychological state in dealing with the soldiers to mobilize them by force to participate.

We can add to this the existence of fighting with the Ottomans within North Africa. Here, we are not referring to armed fighting only, but as it was mentioned previously, it is the psychological warfare and the destruction of man before destroying his possessions and goods that Allah blessed him with.

Eyalet: It is the largest administrative and military unit in the Ottoman Empire, and it is governed by a ruler with the rank of “kurcu başı or beylerbeyi”, meaning a general prince.

This is just a simple summary and there is a lot left that can’t be mentioned in limited lines…